FCC: Open source router software is still legal—under certain conditions

(credit: South Park Studios)

With the Federal Communications Commission being criticized for rules that may limit a user’s right to install open source firmware on wireless routers, we’ve been trying to get more specifics from the FCC about its intentions.

Despite an FCC guidance to router manufacturers that seems to ban open source firmware such as DD-WRT and OpenWRT, FCC spokesperson Charles Meisch told Ars that there is in fact no such ban. But there are restrictions that in some cases could cause a manufacturer to decide to prevent the installation of third-party firmware. In fact, disabling the installation of third-party firmware by the user may be the easiest and most straightforward way for hardware makers to comply with the FCC’s guidance.

That guidance specifically requires manufacturers to prevent user modifications that cause radios to operate outside their licensed RF (radio frequency) parameters. The goal is to prevent interference with other systems by making sure devices only work within their allowed frequencies, types of modulation, and power levels. The FCC said its actions are meant to address “interference with FAA Doppler weather radar systems caused by modified devices” and other potential interference problems.